January 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2016-18- 02, which applied to certain The Boeing Company Model 777-200 and - 300ER series airplanes. AD 2016-18-02 required replacing the low- pressure oxygen flex hoses with new non-conductive low-pressure oxygen flex hoses in the gaseous passenger oxygen system in airplanes equipped with therapeutic oxygen. This AD retains those actions and adds actions for certain airplanes. AD 2016-18-02 was prompted by the determination that the low-pressure oxygen flex hoses in the gaseous passenger oxygen system can potentially be conductive. This AD was further prompted by the determination that the associated service information is inadequate for certain airplanes. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Bombardier, Inc., Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report of a wing stall (wing drop/ uncommanded roll) during landing flare, due to ice on the wing leading edges that was not detected by the anti-ice system. This AD requires revising the existing airplane flight manual (AFM) to include a limitation and normal operating procedure for the wing anti-ice system. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to remove the Kanab ambersnail (Oxyloma haydeni kanabensis) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. This determination is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific information. Our review indicates that Kanab ambersnail is not a valid subspecies and therefore cannot be listed as an endangered entity under the Act. We are seeking information and comments from the public regarding this proposed rule.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes this rule to allow for the continuation of civil service retirement coverage for career Senate Restaurants employees of the Architect of the Capitol, who became employees of a private contractor under a food services contract on September 16, 2008, and career civilian employees of the United States permanently assigned to the food services operations of the House of Representatives after those operations were transferred to a private contractor on January 2, 1987.

On October 22, 2019, the Postal Service published proposed product and price changes to reflect price adjustments and other minor classification changes filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). The PRC found that price adjustments and classification changes contained in the Postal Service's notice may go into effect on January 26, 2020. The Postal Service will revise Notice 123, Price List to reflect the new prices and Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM[supreg]), to reflect minor classification changes.

This final rule revises the regulations, fees for services, and procedures established under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The revisions are necessary to conform with recent amendments to the Plant Variety Protection Act, which added authority for the Plant Variety Protection Office to issue certificates of protection for varieties of plants that are reproduced asexually. This rule adds references to the term ``asexual reproduction'' to the regulations established under the Plant Variety Protection Act and establishes procedures for obtaining variety protection for asexually reproduced plant varieties. This rule also modernizes the regulations by simplifying the fee schedule for PVPO services and updating the regulations relating to administrative procedures to reflect current business practices.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) modifies the cost recovery rules for internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) so that intrastate as well as interstate end-user revenues of telecommunications carriers and Voice over internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers are included in the calculation of Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund contributions to support the costs of providing IP CTS.

NMFS proposes to approve and implement the measures of the New England Fishery Management Council's Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. This action would protect deep-sea corals from the impacts of commercial fishing gear on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. These proposed management measures are intended to reduce, to the extent practicable, impacts of fishing gear on deep-sea corals in New England while balancing their costs to commercial fisheries.

This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the final rule with comment period that appeared in the November 12, 2019, issue of the Federal Register titled ``Changes to Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; Revisions of Organ Procurement Organizations Conditions of Coverage; Prior Authorization Process and Requirements for Certain Covered Outpatient Department Services; Potential Changes to the Laboratory Date of Service Policy; Changes to Grandfathered Children's Hospitals-Within-Hospitals; Notice of Closure of Two Teaching Hospitals and Opportunity to Apply for Available Slots.''

This document extends the comment period for the proposed rule entitled, ``Transparency in Coverage,'' that published in the November 27, 2019, issue of the Federal Register. The comment period for the proposed rule, which would close on January 14, 2020, is extended 15 days to January 29, 2020.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all navigable waters of the Lower Mississippi River between Mile Marker (MM) 364.5 and MM 365.5, upriver of the Bienville Trace Scenic Byway/ US-425 Bridge in Vidalia, LA. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of persons, vessels, and the marine environment during a fireworks display. Entry of persons or vessels into this zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Sector Lower Mississippi River or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary security zone. This security zone is necessary to provide security and protection for visiting personnel during the events related to the College Football Playoff game. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port New Orleans or a designated representative.

The Coast Guard is amending the Thea Foss and Wheeler-Osgood Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) for Commencement Bay to establish a permanent regulated navigation area within the Middle Waterway. This action is necessary to protect sediment cap areas in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Commencement Bay Nearshore-Tideflats Superfund Cleanup Site within the Middle Waterway. This RNA would prohibit certain activities that could disrupt the integrity of the engineered sediment caps placed within the Middle Waterway.

The Coast Guard will enforce a temporary safety zone between mile marker (MM) 94 and MM 95 above Head of Passes, Lower Mississippi River, LA. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters near New Orleans, LA, during a fireworks display on January 11, 2020. During the enforcement periods, the operator of any vessel in the regulated area must comply with directions from the Patrol Commander or any Official Patrol displaying a Coast Guard ensign.

This final rule is being issued to adjust for inflation each civil monetary penalty (CMP) provided by law within the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Commerce (Department of Commerce). The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, required the head of each agency to adjust for inflation its CMP levels in effect as of November 2, 2015, under a revised methodology that was effective for 2016 which provided for initial catch up adjustments for inflation in 2016, and requires adjustments for inflation to CMPs under a revised methodology for each year thereafter. The 2019 adjustments for inflation to CMPs to the Department of Commerce's CMPs were published in the Federal Register on February 7, 2019, and became effective March 1, 2019. The annual methodology provides for the improvement of the effectiveness of CMPs and to maintain their deterrent effect. Agencies' annual adjustments for inflation to CMPs shall take effect not later than January 15. The Department of Commerce's 2020 adjustments for inflation to CMPs apply only to CMPs with a dollar amount, and will not apply to CMPs written as functions of violations. The Department of Commerce's 2020 adjustments for inflation to CMPs apply only to those CMPs, including those whose associated violation predated such adjustment, which are assessed by the Department of Commerce after the effective date of the new CMP level.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts a rule that prospectively prohibits the use of Universal Service Fund (USF or the Fund) funds to purchase or obtain any equipment or services produced or provided by a covered company posing a national security threat to the integrity of communications networks or the communications supply chain. In doing so, the Report and Order initially designates Huawei Technologies Company (Huawei) and ZTE Corporation (ZTE) as covered companies for purposes of the rule and establish a process for designating additional covered companies in the future. To support the Commission's future efforts to protect the communications supply chain, the Information Collection Order (Order) directs the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), in coordination with USAC, to conduct an information collection to determine the extent to which potentially prohibited equipment exists in current networks and the costs associated with removing such equipment and replacing it with equivalent equipment.

This document announces the continuation of, effectiveness of, and the extension of the timeline for publication of a final rule. We are issuing this document in accordance with the Social Security Act (the Act), which allows an interim final rule to remain in effect after the expiration of the timeline specified in the Act if the Secretary publishes a notice of continuation explaining why the regular timeline was not complied with.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing approval of a Missouri State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted on February 15, 2019. The submission revises the State's general conformity rule. Specifically, the proposed action revises the rule to add definitions specific to the rule, remove references to a rule that is being rescinded, remove the unnecessary use of restrictive words and make other clarifying changes. The revision does not have an adverse effect on air quality. The EPA's proposed approval of this rule revision is being done in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

In response to a petition for rulemaking, FRA is amending its regulation on Training, Qualification, and Oversight for Safety-Related Railroad Employees by delaying the regulation's implementation dates for all contractors, and those Class II and III railroads that are not intercity or commuter passenger railroads with 400,000 total employee work hours annually or more.

NMFS is transferring 19.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) quota from the 28.9-mt General category December 2020 subquota to the January 2020 subquota period (from January 1 through March 31, 2020, or until the available subquota for this period is reached, whichever comes first). This action is based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments and applies to Atlantic tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.

This proposed rule would establish a new part in the Code of Federal Regulations to address how Alaska Native entities may become acknowledged as an Indian Tribe pursuant to the Alaska Amendment to the Indian Reorganization Act. This proposed rule would not affect the status of Tribes that are already federally recognized.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directives (ADs) 2015-14-07, 2016-07-10, and 2016-24-09, which apply to The Boeing Company Model 787-8 and 787-9 airplanes. ADs 2015-14-07, 2016-07-10, and 2016-24-09 require actions related to certain flight control module (FCM) software. Since the FAA issued these ADs, the agency has received reports of unannunciated dual symmetric inboard slat skew and deficiencies in the FCM software. This proposed AD would also require installing flight control electronics (FCE) common block point 5 (CBP5) software, which would terminate the existing requirements. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

NMFS is adjusting the 2020 total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) pollock, Atka mackerel, and Pacific cod fisheries. This action is necessary because NMFS has determined these TACs are incorrectly specified, and will ensure the BSAI pollock, Atka mackerel, and Pacific cod TACs are the appropriate amounts based on the best available scientific information. This action is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing approval of South Carolina's June 18, 2018, State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission pertaining to the ``good neighbor'' provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2008 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The good neighbor provision requires each state's implementation plan to address the interstate transport of air pollution in amounts that contribute significantly to nonattainment, or interfere with maintenance, of a NAAQS in any other state. In this action, EPA is finalizing the determination that South Carolina's SIP contains adequate provisions to prohibit emissions within the State from contributing significantly to nonattainment or interfering with maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS in any other state.